FYLSX Criminal Law Elements & Defenses 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Terry threatens to kill Sam unless Sam burns down a competitor's warehouse. Sam burns the warehouse. Sam is charged with arson. The best defense is:
- Necessity
- Duress (Correct answer)
- Consent of competitor
- Mistake of law
Correct answer: Duress
Duress is the proper defense when a defendant commits a crime under an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm from a third party, provided no reasonable escape existed.
Question 2: Which of the following is NOT a required element of common law larceny?
- A trespassory taking
- Carrying away (asportation)
- Personal property of another
- Use of force or fear (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Use of force or fear
Common law larceny requires a trespassory taking and carrying away of personal property of another with intent to permanently deprive; force or fear is not required (that elevates it to robbery).
Question 3: An accomplice who wants to withdraw from participation before the crime occurs must:
- Simply notify law enforcement of the planned crime
- Repudiate prior aid and do everything possible to neutralize their assistance (Correct answer)
- Leave the scene before the crime is committed
- Withdraw their encouragement verbally to the principal
Correct answer: Repudiate prior aid and do everything possible to neutralize their assistance
Effective withdrawal requires not only repudiation of prior encouragement but also affirmative steps to neutralize any assistance previously rendered.
Question 4: Premeditation for first-degree murder can be formed:
- Only after sustained reflection over several hours
- In an instant, as long as it precedes the killing (Correct answer)
- Only when a plan is communicated to another person
- Only when the defendant researched the killing in advance
Correct answer: In an instant, as long as it precedes the killing
Under most jurisdictions, premeditation can be instantaneous; the focus is on whether the defendant thought about the killing before acting, not the length of deliberation.
Question 5: Which crime requires proof that the defendant obtained property by making a false representation of a past or existing material fact?
- Larceny by trick
- False pretenses (Correct answer)
- Embezzlement
- Extortion
Correct answer: False pretenses
False pretenses requires a false representation of a past or existing fact (not a promise about the future) that causes the victim to pass title to property.
Question 6: Depraved heart murder differs from involuntary manslaughter because it requires:
- Intent to kill or cause serious bodily harm
- Extreme recklessness showing a callous disregard for human life, beyond ordinary recklessness (Correct answer)
- Commission during an inherently dangerous felony
- Provocation sufficient to arouse a reasonable person
Correct answer: Extreme recklessness showing a callous disregard for human life, beyond ordinary recklessness
Depraved heart (second-degree) murder requires a higher level of recklessness—extreme indifference to human life—that goes beyond the gross negligence standard for involuntary manslaughter.
Question 7: A police officer tells a suspect: 'I'll drop all charges if you rob that store for me.' The suspect complies. The suspect's best defense is:
- Duress, because the officer threatened him with charges
- Entrapment, if the officer induced someone not predisposed to commit the crime (Correct answer)
- Necessity, because the threat came from a government actor
- Consent, because the officer authorized the act
Correct answer: Entrapment, if the officer induced someone not predisposed to commit the crime
Entrapment (subjective test) is available when government agents induce a person who is not predisposed to commit the offense to do so; the officer's inducement here is the paradigmatic entrapment scenario.
FYLSX Criminal Law Elements & Defenses 5
Terry threatens to kill Sam unless Sam burns down a competitor's warehouse.
Sam burns the warehouse.
Sam is charged with arson.
The best defense is: